Getting Caught In The Rain
by Sabrina Anne
Summary: A collection of my short stories involving none other than a pairing of Ranma and Akane.
1. Getting Caught In The Rain

**Getting Caught In The Rain**

**A Ranma ½ Fanfic written by Sabrina Anne**

Disclaimer: The characters and stories of Ranma ½ are © Rumiko Takahashi, and are used here without permission or license. This work is for non-commercial use only and is produced for the sole enjoyment of fans, not to be distributed for sale.

* * *

Ranma fiddled with his pencil and stared blankly out the window. He always hated Calculus class and did whatever necessary so as not to pay attention. This time he found a nice blank spot in his notebook and took up doodling. Akane, who was seated on the other side of the room today because of a fight between them earlier this morning, was attempting to tackle a problem up on the chalkboard. From the looks of it, she wasn't getting it correct and kept aggressively going at her notebook with a giant eraser.

_She's pretty cute when she's sitting quietly. _He began to think about what his father had said earlier that morning along with Mr. Tendou.

"_You had better take Akane to that dance, son. Or no training trip to China next month."_

If it hadn't been for meddling fathers, he would have probably wanted to go with her anyway, but blackmailing him wasn't just unfair….it made him want to go to the dance even more.

The bell rang for the end of school and this time Ranma jumped to his feet, startled a bit from being knocked out of his daze.

"Hey Ranma, whatcha got there?" The boy seated next to him reached over and snatched the notebook off his desk before he had the chance to put it in his bag.

He began to laugh violently and scream, "Ranma loves Akane! Ranma loves Akane! Look look! He's been drawing lovey-dovey pictures!"

At first the shouts didn't sink in. But when a group of other classmates all stumbled around him to get a look at the notebook, he blinked in confusion.

"What the…?" Ranma grabbed the notebook and stared at it, cocking an eyebrow. Immediately his face turned as red as the shirt he had on as he looked around to see whether Akane had heard the shouts. He didn't see her, and thinking he was safe, he whirled around towards the door only to be face to face with Akane.

"Can I see?" She smiled sweetly, tilting her head as she reached out a hand for the notebook.

Without even thinking, Ranma quickly replied, "Forget it, Akane. I wasn't drawing you….I was drawing a dog."

And with that said, Akane's sweet smile turned to vicious anger as she picked up a nearby chair and swung it at Ranma's head, missing him completely but managing to injure the boy who had started shouting.

* * *

Back at the Tendou household, Akane was stewing in her room, obviously still annoyed from Ranma's earlier comment.

"And _why_ should I care if he thinks I'm a dog?" She asked out loud, kicking at her garbage can. It knocked over and spilled pieces of paper onto the floor.

Akane growled and muttered, "Grrr….. Stupid jerk!" She got up from her desk and stomped towards the door, kicking it open and walking down the hall to the guest room that Ranma shared with his father, intent on giving him a piece of her mind. She listened for a moment before sliding open the door with all the anger she could muster, and looked around, realizing no one was in there.

"Now where the hell…" She stopped mid-sentence as her eyes focused on Ranma's schoolbag. Quickly she peered both ways over her shoulders and stepped quietly into the room and towards the bag. She knelt on the floor and lifted up the bag's flap, spotting the notebook at once since it was the only notebook Ranma ever kept. Looking over her shoulders again, she cautiously opened the notebook and flipped through it, curious to see what he really had been doodling. Suddenly her hands froze. Her eyes stopped solid on a doodle taking up half a page. It wasn't a particularly good drawing, she'd seen better from the boys in her animation class, but it certainly wasn't a dog. It was a girl's face, smiling pleasantly with chin-length hair that had been colored in black with the pencil and a roughly drawn flower tucked behind an ear. For all intents and purposes, it was _her_.

She quickly shook her head and blinked her eyes a few times. Obviously she wasn't seeing straight. _Could Ranma have really drawn this?_ Her earlier hatred for him quickly shifted as she kept flipping through the pages only to find other doodles of the same girl but with different faces. On another page, the girl's face was winking and sticking her tongue out. The word "cute" was scribbled above it.

_Hmm…_She kept flipping through pages until she reached the back of the notebook and found no doodles, but a bunch of crossed-out scribbles. The handwriting was barely legible, as Ranma never really cared much to learn to write properly or learn to spell, but she could make out most of it. She read the scribbles out loud in her mind:

"_Dear Akane, I'm sorry I called you uncute. I didn't mean to tell you the truth."_

Cross-out.

"_Dear Akane, Please accept my apology for your poor cooking skills."_

Cross-out.

Akane's anger began to boil up again, but before it could go any further, she read the last Cross-out.

"_Dear Akane, will you go with me to the dance?"_

Much like her reaction to the doodles, she looked up, dumbfounded.

"….Eh…?!"

The door to Ranma's room slid open as he stepped in, surprised at Akane's presence.

He blinked at first, and chuckled a bit to himself.

"Snooping around, Akane? That's not very ladylike y'know." He leaned himself against the wall with his arms folded.

She immediately stood and threw the notebook at him, folding her arms as well. Ranma quickly caught the notebook and blushed, realizing what she'd been looking at.

"You're such a coward, _Ranma_. If you wanted to ask me to the dance you should say so." She closed her eyes and turned towards the wall, but after his momentary silence she peaked over at him. He was still as red as the Chinese shirt he was wearing.

"Why you…that's private property! Who said you had any right looking at my stuff, huh?! And who says I wanted to ask you to the dance anyway?!" His face was no longer red with embarrassment, but red with fuming anger.

Akane was dumbfounded once more, but not by his reaction, by his sheer stupidity.

"You MORON! I just read it in your notebook! Are you that stupid that you can't even remember?"

"I was _planning_ on asking you since everyone else already had a date. But now you'll just have to go by yourself." Somewhat proud of his comeback, he turned and slammed the sliding door as hard as he could possibly slam a sliding door, leaving Akane all alone.

She growled at the door and sat on the floor, folding her arms with a loud, _harrumph. _

"I'll never understand that dolt."

* * *

Ranma sat on the roof of the dojo, his usual resting place after an argument with Akane. He stared out over the rooftops of Nerima just pondering. Originally, his intentions were to ask Akane to the dance, but every time he meant to do it something always got in his way. Another guy professing the same intentions or sending her flowers and candy to get her to accept their invitations. Having spent the rest of his yen buying back some compromising photos of his female half from Nabiki, he knew he just couldn't compete for Akane's attention like that.

With a heavy sigh, he closed his eyes and attempted to figure out what to do next.

* * *

"You should go talk to him. You _know _you want to go with him."

Nabiki sat on Akane's bed, flipping through a fashion magazine, trying to decide what hairstyle would suit her best for the dance that night. Unlike most other girls in school, Nabiki preferred to go to the dance without a date, to keep her options open, as she had mentioned.

Akane was standing in front of her closet, admiring the dress she planned to wear. It was a Chinese-style dress, but not very traditional. It was black silk, with embroidered blue orchids, and was open down much of the back. Her friend Yumei had loaned it to her, knowing it would gain attention from a certain someone.

With a heavy sigh, she turned to look at her sister.

"_Just go talk to him." _She repeated. "Besides, you'll never find another date in time for tonight."

With a roll of her eyes and a low grumble, she plopped the dress back into her closet and set upon the house to look for Ranma. After an argument, there could only be one place he could be.

As she climbed up onto the guardrail of the porch and stood on her tiptoes, she could see the top of a fluffy black-haired head. Half-smiling to herself for knowing so well where he would be, she proceeded to climb up onto the roof of the dojo, the clay tiles making a _click-click_ sound. Without realizing she had stepped onto a loose tile, she lost her footing and fell backward, scrambling to find something to hold onto only to find another loose tile. Her other hand reached towards the roof in one last resort and found a hand had grabbed her, pulling her up onto the roof away from the edge.

Ranma stood in front of her, still holding onto her hand. The look on his face was half concern, half curiosity.

"Clumsy," he said.

Akane blushed, looking down at her feet. For all the times she had been up here, she still didn't have it down pat exactly how to get onto the roof.

"Um….thanks.." she managed to get out.

Ranma must have realized he was still holding her hand and let it go, quickly, taking a step backwards to have a seat again. She hadn't wanted to say she was sorry for looking through his things earlier, and his silence was killing her.

"So…." She started. "….um…" she began twirling her fingers and stole a glance over at him. He was leaning against the roof tiles, his hands folded under his head and was looking away.

"….I'm sorry I was looking through your stuff."

_There, I said it_, she thought. _Now it is his turn._

"It's ok, I guess." Ranma answered.

They sat in silence for what seemed like eternity, before Ranma spoke again.

"So are we goin' to this dance thing or what?"

Akane blinked, looking up at him. _Finally_, she thought.

He looked over at her, awaiting an answer. There was a smile on her face.

"I'll be ready by 7," she said, and slid down the roof and onto the porch with all the grace of a polar bear attacking new found prey.

Ranma chuckled to himself at the thought and slid down after her. _I guess this means I need to find something to wear._ Just as he reached the porch, Mr. Tendou and his father stood in front of the door waiting for him, Mr. Tendou with tears in his eyes.

"Oh my boy, you don't know what this means to me!" He patted Ranma on the back and wiped his eyes with his other hand.

Genma Saotome stood next to his old friend, nodding in agreement.

"Indeed, my son. 'Tis a good thing you are doing taking Akane to the dance."

"Oh geez," Ranma grumbled and rolled his eyes. "Look pops, I don't have time for the speech ok? I gotta go change."

Mr. Tendou stood between him and the door, blocking his way.

"Precisely why we are here, my boy. You'll need something to wear."

"The music, the atmosphere….you'll need some protection too, son."

Letting out a loud cough, Ranma's face turned a crimson rivaling that of his shirt. _Why would he be needing any…?_

Genma handed him a small packaged bar of soap. _Jusenkyo_ was printed on the label.

"I managed to stea……purchase this from a Chinese traveling salesman. A sample of that special soap. I was planning on using it myself, but tonight is a special night, my son, and it looks like rain."

Ranma's eyes widened as he pried the soap out of his father's hand, shocked at how thoughtful his father could actually be sometimes.

"Kasumi will have a bath ready for you, son. And your clothes are waiting for you."

The two older men scooted a stunned Ranma back into the house.

* * *

Akane looked at her reflection in the mirror. The dress was a little snug, Yumei was built a little smaller than she was, but for tonight it was tight in all the right places. She had to admit it to herself, she looked like a beautiful young woman. The night played on in her head. They would walk back to the school together, Ranma would ask her to dance and they would step out onto the dance floor for a slow song, their eyes would meet for a brief moment before...

_Knock-knock_.

"Nothing like a snap back to reality," she thought out loud with a chuckle. "Like it would happen that way anyhow...Coming!"

It was Kasumi, and she was holding a small bouquet of blue orchids.

"Oh Akane, you look so beautiful!" She stepped inside and held out the orchids for her sister. "Why not put one in your hair?"

With a nod, Akane took the bouquet and walked back to the mirror. She picked out an orchid and tucked it into her hair behind her ear. Turning back to her sister, Kasumi nodded and smiled.

"I'm ready," Akane announced.

"Good, Ranma's waiting for you downstairs."

Ranma sat on a chair by the front door, trying his best not to look nervous His left leg wouldn't stop fidgeting. He could hear the girls laughing upstairs and wondered when they would actually be ready. The night played on in his head. They would walk together to the dance, one of his other fiancées would find them, Akane would get mad and storm off, he would have to run after her and apologize, perhaps Akane would forgive him and perhaps they would share a moment...

"Ranma, I'm ready."

Ranma looked up and blinked. She was surely a beautiful sight...

"Ranma?"

He blinked again and stood, shaking away his daze.

"Yeah, lets go," he said.

"What do you think of my dress?" She asked, turning around slowly, her hands by her waist. Ranma could see the dress hugging her curves, and his eyes widened at the hole that exposed most of her back.

"Um...I...uh...it's nice," he said, still staring at her.

She advanced towards him, still holding a blue orchid in her hand. Something told Ranma to take the flower...

He met her halfway and took the flower from her hand, gently tucking it behind her other ear.

"Perfect," he said, smiling down at her.

From the staircase, Genma and Soun watched their children, wiping away their tears.

"Shall we, old friend?"

"We shall."

The two men returned to the back porch for a night of sake and shogi.

It didn't look much like rain, then again the night was still early. The sun was setting and the soft spring breeze was blowing the scent of flowers all around them. Ranma was glad his father had given him the soap even if it was just a one time use only. Akane was in such a good mood, it would be a shame to waste it.

"You clean up pretty well," a voice came from Ranma's back. He hadn't realized how fast he was walking and Akane was struggling to keep up.

"Huh? Oh…thanks," he replied back, realizing his pace and slowing down. His own outfit, similar to his day to day wear except for being all black, had a blue sash which matched the orchids in Akane's dress. His father and Mr. Tendou no doubt had something to do with that.

_Just hold her hand,_ his inner voice told him. _Just take it and walk together. Do it. _

Mentally shaking his head in response, Ranma struggled with the inner voice. It wouldn't take no for an answer and was practically screaming in his head. _Coward!_

Without looking at her, Ranma reached out his hand just slightly away from his body. He wasn't sure if Akane was even paying attention or if she would reciprocate and take his hand, but he felt the inner voice couldn't argue if he at least tried.

And so she was paying attention. A soft warm hand slipped into his and gripped onto his fingers. Ranma felt his face blush and he watched the sidewalk as they continued to walk together, hand in hand.

Akane smiled as she held onto his hand, she hadn't noticed how it was so much bigger than hers. She was surprised that he had made such a move, bold even for a cocky brute like him. , snuggling

_He can be so sweet when he wants to be_, she thought. She wondered just how long it would take for him to ruin it.

Unfortunately, Akane was about to find out the answer to that thought. A familiar bell behind them chimed as the sound of a bicycle came closer.

"Ranma! So handsome! What you doing with violent girl?"

That voice, a chill ran up Ranma's spine as he inadvertently let go of Akane's hand.

"Uh...nothing Shampoo. Just out for a walk..." he sputtered, casually trying to look like nothing was happening. Shampoo had hopped off her bike and jumped in his arms, about to nuzzle his cheek when she stole a glance over at Akane, her eyes narrowing in confusion.

"What you doing in dress Akane? It too small for wide hips," she said.

Ranma looked quickly at Akane to see her reaction. She had a clenched fist and gritted teeth, but stayed quiet.

"Look Shampoo..." he began, but wasn't quite sure what to say. If he told Shampoo the truth, he'd actually have to admit to himself and out loud that he was on a date with Akane, a task he wasn't sure he was ready to do. Then again, if he didn't say anything, Akane's good mood would soon turn sour.

He stole another glance at Akane and came to the sad realization that it wouldn't matter what he said...Akane's mood had already turned sour. He had to come up with a plan and fast, he knew Akane wouldn't stick around long enough to hear what he had to say. And so he tried again.

"Look, Shampoo, we've got to go. See, there's this thing..."

_Yeah, smooth,_ he thought.

"Shampoo come too," she said. "Shampoo make much better date."

Akane let out a growl, she'd had enough and stomped right in front of the Amazon's face. "Shampoo can't you see you're not wanted around here? Leave us ALONE!"

"Violent girl want fight? Shampoo ready." With a flick of her wrists, Shampoo's bonburi's were aimed at her opponent.

"Let's go," Akane replied, slinking into a fighting stance and then it began, Shampoo taking the first swing, Akane blocking and going in for her attack.

"Shampoo, Akane, this is stupid!" Ranma tried to peel them apart, but it was to no avail. He ducked punches and kicks and even got knocked in the face before he'd had it.

"Aw man, forget this!" He shouted and tore off down the street in the direction of Furinkan High, jumping up onto a fence and continuing along his path.

It took the two fighting girls a second before they realized Ranma was no longer watching nor was he around.

"See what you do? You make Ranma leave!" Shampoo shouted, shoving Akane to the side.

"You don't honestly believe _I'm_ the one that made Ranma leave do you? Everything was fine until _you_ showed up!"

Akane thought for a moment. Ranma may have gone ahead to the dance without her, but if she headed in that direction, Shampoo was sure to follow her. Shampoo was fast, but not _that_ fast.

"I'll go find him," she said quickly, running towards the direction of the dojo.

"Shampoo find Ranma first!" Shampoo hopped back on her bike and sped down the street, looking behind her once to stick her tongue out at Akane.

Akane pretended to jog before ducking behind a corner of a small noodle shop. She stuck her head out to see Shampoo still going and only hoped she would get distracted by something...or get showered with cold water.

"Ok, time to go," she said to herself, running this time towards Furinkan High. When she got there, there were plenty of people in the school yard but none of them Ranma. A few of her friends waved and she waved back, but continued scanning the area.

"Oh Ranma, where the heck are you?" She grumbled and continued her search, heading towards the field. A lightbulb suddenly lit in her brain and she made a quick stop at a refreshment table before heading back out to the field.

* * *

"Just great," Ranma said to himself, his legs dangling from a tree branch. The night had started so well...and ended up just like another day out of his typically chaotic life.

smack

Ranma blinked, and caught the plastic wrapped bundle that smacked him across the cheek.

"What the...? Eh?" He scratched the back of his forehead and looked down to see where it came from.

"You're such a jerk." It was Akane, and she was climbing up the tree to sit next to him on the branch. Her expression wasn't apparent to him, he couldn't tell if she was angry or not. She had another plastic bundle in her hand and began to unwrap it, revealing a red bean mochi cake.

"How was I supposed to know Shampoo was..."

"That's not what I mean, Ranma. You could have told her we were on a date."

"It's not a date!" He shouted, without thinking. Akane's eyes narrowed at him. He looked at her quickly, a bead of sweat forming at his temple. "At least...it's not a date anymore," he finished.

_Whew. _

Akane merely cocked an eyebrow.

He said, unwrapping his mochi and taking a bite. "You have to admit, it started out pretty well."

"You say that as if the night is over," she said, licking a bit of red bean paste from her lips. "We just got here."

In the distance, an announcer over the loudspeaker could be heard, followed by cheers. Music began to play, and all at once, the school and the yard surrounding it lit up with strings of paper lanterns.

"So you're not mad?" He shoved the rest of the mochi into his mouth, his cheeks puffing out like a hamster.

She crinkled her nose at him, but had to admit it was a funny sight and let out a short giggle.

"No, I guess not," she said, sounding a little surprised even to herself.

"Ok good," he gave her a short nod and looked over the school yard. It was actually a pretty sight and he was really glad to be sitting there with Akane. No meddling fathers, no Tendou sisters, and certainly no other fiancées.

They sat in silence, as was their usual routine, until Akane attempted a conversation.

"So...what are you thinking of doing this summer?"

"Pops and I are planning a trip to China. Dunno how we'll get there, but he said we'd go."

Akane looked down at the grass. _That's what you get for asking_, she thought.

"I suppose he'll meet some fisherman with a boat and a daughter. I'll end up with another fiancé but at least we'll get to China."

Ranma laughed at his own joke and looked over at Akane, who wasn't laughing.

"Sorry," he said. She was staring down at the grass, seemingly bothered by his joke. Ranma could still hear the music playing and so he took a chance. He hopped down to the grass and looked up at her. Her expression remained unchanged.

"A...Akane..." he stammered. "...do you want to dance?"

A smile crept across her face and he had his answer. He held out his arms as she slipped off the tree branch and fell into his arms. He held her just a brief moment before setting her down on the soft grass. She wrapped her arms loosely around his neck and rested her cheek against his chest.

Ranma, feeling Akane's body against his, felt his face turn scarlet and wasn't sure what to do or where to put his hands. He started at her shoulders, but his arms were in an uncomfortable position, so he decided on her waist. But as his hands slipped downward, he felt the opening in her dress and the soft bare skin of her back. He quickly slid his hands to her waist, his heart beating faster as they gently swayed to the music.

Akane closed her eyes and smiled, listening to Ranma's heartbeat. It was so fast, he was so nervous. She wasn't sure why she wasn't nervous, normally being this close to him would have made her a wreck, but something about it was so calm, so peaceful.

_Relax_,Ranma's inner voice kept repeating. In his mind, dancing was a lot like martial arts. Being swift and light on your feet was easy. It was being so close to Akane that made him so nervous. He paced his breathing and felt his heartbeat return to a normal pace. With a sigh of relief, he lowered his cheek down to the top of her head and in haled the sweet scent of her hair. They stood there, gently swaying for hours, what seemed like an eternity.

It was almost too perfect of course, but things could never be perfect in Nerima, at least not for this pair. The rain started gently at first, a few droplets here and there, then came a little heavier. Standing beneath the tree, Akane and Ranma hadn't noticed, until the rain fell between the leaves. The pair quickly separated, looking out over the school yard.

"Yikes, that's really comin' down," Ranma said, thankful his father had given him the special soap.

"Wait here, I'll see if I can find you an umbrella." Akane turned to run out towards the school, but Ranma grabbed her hand.

"No, it's okay," he said. "Lets walk home in the rain." He stepped out from under the cover of the tree, looking up to the sky and letting the rain hit him in the face. His male face. He had always enjoyed the rain, especially as a young boy. The soft sound it made against the rooftop and the windows, the way it made everything smell so fresh after it passed, but he never appreciated it fully in male form until this moment. Even if it was just for tonight, he hadn't wanted it to end.

Akane's eyes widened. "Ranma! You're…you're still a boy!"

He held out his hand to her and smiled. "C'mon slowpoke!"

She returned the smile and grabbed his hand as they jogged together out of the school yard and down the street. Ranma made an extra point to splash in the puddles. Normally Akane would have been angry that she was getting soaked or that Ranma was dashing her through puddles, but he seemed so happy... and he hadn't changed! She jumped into a particularly large puddle and kicked her feet in his direction, sending a nice splash his way. They laughed together and Ranma returned the splash.

By the time they had returned back to the dojo, the rain had begun to fall even harder and every inch of the two had been completely soaked. For some reason, Ranma had stopped before the entrance of the dojo between the welcoming gates and turned to look at her.

"Akane," he said softly, barely audible with the pouring rain around them.

"Yes Ranma?"

"This was fun."

She smiled and nodded, holding a hand to her forehead to shield her eyes from the rain.

"Well g'night," he said, turning towards the dojo. Akane's heart sank. After such a wonderful night, she was so sure that he'd... and without thinking, she reached for his arm and missed, grabbing the sopping wet material of his shirt.

"Wha…?" he spun around and there she was, barely an inch from his face, her eyes closed. His face reddened again, but he went in anyway, closing his eyes as he leaned down and met her soft lips. His hands were at her waist again, holding onto the fabric of her dress. Akane's hands were still gripping his shirt. The rain continued to beat down around them, but that didn't matter, nothing did.

"Well done, m'boy!"

And that was enough to break the moment. Quickly, the two separated, looking at each other, half in a daze and half unsure what to do next.

Genma Saotome and Soun Tendou were standing in the doorway of the dojo entrance, the proud looks on their faces showed they had clearly been spying.

Quickly, Akane planted a slap across Ranma's face.

Bewildered, he took a step back. "What the heck was that for?!"

"I didn't know what else to do!" she replied.

"Akane, my dear! Come inside before you catch a cold!" Mr. Tendou ran outside and scooped up his daughter, shooing her inside. Genma closed the door behind them and the men went back to their spot on the back porch.

Ranma looked up at the night sky, and closed his eyes, letting the rain hit his face and pour down his cheeks and neck as he thought about the day's events. He had fought with Akane, managed to ask her to the dance, saved himself from a fight with Shampoo, and shared a kiss in the rain with Akane. _Overall, not a bad day,_ he thought to himself. There he stayed for what seemed like hours. He wasn't sure how long the soap would last, but he didn't want to waste any minute of it.

Ranma fan-fic, completed May 24, 2007.


	2. Akane's Secret Rendezvous

_**Akane's Secret Rendezvous**_

**A Ranma ½ Fanfic written by Sabrina Anne**

Disclaimer: The characters and stories of Ranma ½ are © Rumiko Takahashi, and are used here without permission or license. This work is for non-commercial use only and is produced for the sole enjoyment of fans, not to be distributed for sale.

And so he had done it. Ranma had really kissed her. Akane wasn't sure what that meant exactly. Were they a couple now? Would things change between them? It felt like just a dream, but she could still taste the sweetness of his lips She pulled off her sweats and sat down on the stool next to the bathtub, looking in the mirror. Putting her hand to her lips, she smiled to her reflection at the memory of their kiss. His strong arms around her, holding her close to his body…a shiver went down her spine just thinking about it. Quickly she stood, and stepped into the bathtub to wash up for breakfast. When she came out, she dressed in a pair of shorts and a tanktop and came down the hall to the living room.

Everyone was there except Ranma.

Pretending not to notice, she helped herself to a bowl of rice and a piece of fish and began eating. For breakfast at the Tendou house, everyone was pretty silent.

Nabiki spoke first. "So Akane, where's Romeo this morning?"

Akane let out a quick cough, almost choking on her mouthful of rice.

"What do I care?" she answered, trying to make it sound genuine.

Kasumi came into the living room from the kitchen, placing a tray of pickles in the middle of the table.

"Oh, Ranma," she said, "I'm afraid he won't be doing much today. He has a horrible cold."

Akane smiled to her bowl of rice, not caring if anyone had been watching. She knew Ranma had stayed outside in the rain for the better part of the night. It wasn't until everyone had been asleep for a while that he came in, soaked to the bone and sneezing up a storm. She set her chopsticks down neatly over her bowl and looked back up at Kasumi, who had gone back into the kitchen and came back with another tray.

"Akane, will you bring this soup up to Ranma please?"

Akane nodded and bowed to her older sister, standing up to receive the tray from her. _Now's not the time to be clumsy_, she thought. With great caution, she climbed the stairs one by one, keeping her eyes on the tray. Would he be happy to see her? Would he be asleep? When she reached the guestroom that Ranma and his father shared, she set the tray down and slid the door open. Ranma was sprawled out in his usual fashion, his hair and tanktop soaked with sweat. His nose was red and a box of tissues lay next to his futon, its crumpled remnants scattered about the floor.

"Baka," she said as she entered the room. "That's what you get for staying out in the rain." She sat down beside him as he rolled over to look at her. It seemed that he was smiling, but he looked somewhat delirious.

_Probably hasn't slept all night,_ she thought. He rolled over to lay on his side, coughing as he laid there. She could see the sweat rolling down his back. He didn't look good.

"Kasumi! Call Dr. Tofu!"

* * *

Genma's duty was to his son, and everyone had agreed that it was Akane's duty as well, as his fiancée. It didn't take long for Dr. Tofu to come out, his face smiling as usual. He came out, sliding the guestroom door closed and looked at Genma and Akane, who had settled by the door awaiting an answer.

"Not to worry, friends. Ranma just has a bit of a cold. Something tells me he spent some time in the rain yesterday, hm?" He glanced at Akane with that smile of his.

Akane looked down at her feet.

"Well then. Just make sure he gets plenty of bed rest and he'll be up and at it in no time. Now Akane, no beating up Ranma, ok?"

Akane bowed her head sheepishly as Dr. Tofu waved and was off. The rest of the family had done a good job of keeping Kasumi out of Dr. Tofu's way for fear of Ranma's health and safety.

Peering down the hallway to make sure no one was watching, Akane crept back into Ranma's room and knelt down beside him, unsure of what to make of the sight. Never before had she seen Ranma look so vulnerable, he was sprawled out, his cheeks flush but not with their usual energetic color. His breathing was fast and she gently laid a hand against his chest. His heart was beating fast too.

"Ranma," she whispered, "Can you hear me?"

His eyes fluttered and cracked open.

"Ah –Akane?"

"I'm here," she said, almost desperately. He sounded groggy. "Are you hungry? I brought soup, but…I can bring up a new bowl." She stood, the old bowl of soup in her hand.

Suddenly Ranma's face was overcome with a look of excruciating pain. He was sitting up, slowly, and brushed his bangs away from his face.

"Ranma! What is it?"

"The soup…." He said, coughing, "….you didn't make it, did you?"

Akane gritted her teeth and lifted the bowl of soup over her head, intent on hurling it towards his head. It was all she could do to hold back the urge.

"Why you….baka! You're lucky you're sick!" She shouted at him, stomping off towards the door and slamming it behind her, leaving a stunned Ranma behind her.

He looked around the room to see that there had been nobody else waiting for him to wake up. Normally there would be countless fiancées waking him up, screaming at him and throwing random projectiles his way. Even his father would always interrupt a good sleep to make him train early in the morning, but there was nobody else there.

Ranma couldn't remember a time when he had felt so alone…and hungry.

* * *

Hurling the bowl of soup out the window to release some stress, with a loud "Baka!" Akane came back down to greet her family. Her teeth remained clenched as did her fists as she took a seat at the table next to Nabiki and her father. The Tendous watched her in silence as she grabbed a bowl of noodles and angrily jabbed her chopsticks into it.

"I take it our Sleeping Beauty is awake?" Nabiki asked, reaching for a bowl of noodles.

"_Hmph_. I don't care if he is sick. He's still a macho jerk!" Finishing her noodles quickly, she stomped back up to her bedroom and slammed the door. Flinging herself on her bed, she picked up a magazine she had started to read earlier and angrily flipped through it until an advertisement had caught her eye.

Chef Mitsua's School of Culinary Arts Beginner Classes, Call today! 

"That's it!" She said out loud. Ripping the phone number out of the magazine, she quickly ran downstairs to make a phone call. Nabiki, who passed the whirlwind of her sister in the hallway, peeked inside Akane's room to see what the rush had been. She spotted the magazine and the advertisement, and a sly smile crept across her face.

_I could make some money off this,_ she thought.

* * *

"Okay class, now before you get in the kitchen, we must first put on an apron and wash our hands."

When Akane spoke to Chef Mitsua on the phone, her first impression was that of a kind old man who had probably been cooking all of his life and was looking for something to do in his spare time. It was a different story altogether when she walked into his school. Greeted by the chef, she saw her impression was not correct at all. In fact, Chef Mitsua was just a young man himself, barely out of college. His family had owned many restaurants throughout Tokyo and he had worked as a chef in one of them to put himself through school. Now in his early twenties, Mitsua Yumizaka was indeed looking for something to do in his spare time, when he was not a chef in his own restaurant.

The class, made up mostly of young women, bowed their heads in respect and each picked an apron from the rack in a far corner of the room and took a place in a kitchen. The classroom, which was fairly large, had 6 small kitchens, each equipped with a sink, an oven, and counter space. It looked like her Home Economics class in school, but it was a lot nicer. And it didn't hurt that Chef Mitsua was pretty cute too.

"Today we'll be starting off with a nice treat. Your recipes are in your kitchens. Please read over the ingredient list and make sure you have everything."

Akane picked up her recipe and smiled. Chocolate chip cookies were her favorite. She used to watch her mother make them and put little candies on top as an extra special treat. As if accepting a challenge, Akane nodded to her recipe and slunk back in a fighting stance.

_I will make the best darn cookies I've ever eaten!_ She said to herself. She hadn't noticed Chef Mitsua coming up behind her.

"Miss, what's your name?"

Akane blushed a little and bowed her head. "Akane…"

"Well Akane, I see we've a martial artist among us. Perhaps you can show me some moves and I'll show you how to cook?"

His smile was genuine, and sent chills down her spine. His soft brown eyes seemed to twinkle beneath dark brown layers of hair.

She barely got out a nod before he moved on to the next kitchen. She shook her head and remembered what he said to do. Quickly, she looked over her ingredients and read them aloud. The recipe certainly did seem very easy to handle. Chef Mitsua had typed it for them, laying out each step, beginning with turning on the oven.

Having only one small fire, the class went pretty well. Akane was glad she hadn't burned her cookies. In fact, she hadn't walked away from her kitchen even after a timer had been set and everyone else had gathered around the center of the classroom to talk. Akane watched and waited, determined to make the best cookies. She had followed the recipe perfectly, although unless you couldn't read, it was pretty hard not to follow. Chef Mitsua had noticed her tendency to grab the wrong ingredient early on and had taken Akane on as his chief student. He began by handing her the ingredients when she would call them out loud and would make her start over if she put the wrong amount in. After her third bowl of ruined cookie dough, Akane had become frustrated, but had to keep it concealed so as not to show Chef Mitsua, who merely smiled at her and told her to try again. The fourth time, he had her do it herself. She would read the recipe slowly and would check her ingredient label and the amount twice before putting it into her bowl. Most of the other students had gone home, having finished their product already.

"So Akane, do you think you have improved since the beginning of class?"

Chef Mitsua demonstrated how to take the cookies out of the oven and to remove them with a spatula and place them on a wire rack to be cooled. She watched him then did it herself.

"I…I think so." She said, shyly, slowly removing her cookies from the tray.

"You _think_ so? Well, I suppose you'll have to come back for another lesson then, hm?"

He smiled at her again, and wrapped up her remaining cookies.

She nodded. "Yes! You really think I will be able to cook?"

He handed her the plate of cookies. "I think, Chef Akane, you are able to accomplish anything when you put your mind to it."

_You are able to accomplish anything when you put your mind to it._

Chef Mitsua's words replayed in her head as she walked home, the plate of cookies in her hand. Anxious to try one, she reached her hand inside and tasted her first home-made cookie and gasped. There were too many chocolate chips, but aside from that, it wasn't half bad! With a smile, she ran the rest of the way home. When she reached the gates of her house, she debated whether or not to tell anyone where she had been. Deciding that they might laugh at her, she looked around for someone to give her cookies to. She was about to walk down the street to an elderly man who lived on his own, when she heard a familiar squeal.

"P-Chan!" She held out her arms to the incoming little black pig, forgetting all about her plate of cookies. P-Chan jumped in her arms and she hugged him to her bosom, hearing the crash of the plate next to her.

"Oh! My cookies!"

"Bwee?" P-Chan looked up at her, a content look on his little piggy face. She set him down as she began picking up the pieces of the cracked dish and the cookies that now scattered the pavement.

"So much for these, hm P-Chan? I'll just toss them." She scooped up the remaining pieces and dumped them in a nearby garbage can. She picked the little pig back up and entered the house. Just as she had thought, nobody asked her where she'd been.

"Akane, can you check on Ranma? Bring him some more soup and tea." Kasumi came out of the kitchen with a tray, barely noticing that Akane had just walked in the door.

Akane nodded to her older sister, and took the tray from her. P-Chan followed her as they walked up the stairs.

"Ranma's pretty sick," she said to her pet pig. "So he shouldn't be able to pick on you."

Sliding the bedroom door open, Ranma was still pretty much where he had been this morning, sprawled out on his futon, snoring. She set the tray down nearby and watched him for a moment. He looked harmless when he was sleeping. Deciding to leave before he would wake up and insult her for the soup again, she slide the door closed and went back to her bedroom, accidentally leaving P-Chan behind.

* * *

Ryoga looked at Ranma sleeping. He had used the hot water from the tea Akane brought up to change back into his human form.

"It's such a shame the way you lay here sleeping while Akane brings you your soup." He said out loud. "Now wake up, idiot!"

He planted a slap across Ranma's face, jolting him upright.

"Wha? Uhn?" He sat up, groggily. "Hey man, what're you doing here?"

"Watching you lazily snore your life away while the beautiful Akane brings you food! Ah the life you lead!"

Ranma, seemingly feeling much better than this morning, returned Ryoga's wake up slap with a nice punch to the stomach.

They continued to fight until at some point the soup Akane brought up had turned cold, and a soggy, seaweed covered black pig ran down to Akane's room.

* * *

It was a few days later and Akane had managed to keep her secret perfectly, even with Nabiki as her sister. Things had returned to normal around the Tendou house. Ranma was still sick, but fiancé after fiancé had dropped by to pledge that _she_ would be the one to make him feel better. He was sick of soup, each girl practically forcing bowl after bowl down his throat, but at least he was feeling a little better.

He had his usual workout routine in the morning, and expected Akane to meet him in the dojo for her workout, but she wasn't there. When Kasumi called everyone inside for lunch, Akane still wasn't there. It had been almost the whole afternoon before Ranma began pacing around the house. He stopped by her bedroom door and knocked, but got no answer. He was about to enter, when a voice behind him spoke.

"She's not home."

It was Nabiki.

"Don't you want to know where she is?"

"Why do I care where that stupid tomboy is?" Ranma put his hands in his pockets and began casually walking down the hallway. Nabiki followed and whispered in his ear.

"She's got a boyfriend."

That was all she needed to do. The seed was planted, all she had to do was walk away.

Ranma snorted. "Yeah, like that idiot could ever land a boyfriend."

The words came out, yet something about it struck him.

_Did Akane really have a boyfriend?_

"500 yen and I'll tell you where she meets him every day."

He hesitated. He hadn't any money, so buying the information wasn't going to happen. He'd have to wait.

"I don't care _who_ she sees or _where_ she sees him."

"Suit yourself," Nabiki only shrugged and walked away.

Ranma grumbled and figured he'd work out some frustration out in the dojo with his dad. Just as he was walking out onto the porch, he noticed Akane come home. She looked happy and had a deep smile on her face. She hummed to herself as she took her shoes off.

He grumbled a little to himself as he watched her walk happily up the stairs to her bedroom and right past him.

"Hey uh… Akane?"

"Mm?" She barely turned to look at him. She had a smile on her face.

"You want to spar or somethin'?"

"Oh, no thanks Ranma. I'm a little tired. Maybe later." She turned and continued walking back up the stairs to her room where she closed the door behind her and laid on her bed.

Ranma's eyes narrowed in anger.

_Something is definitely up. _ For Akane to turn down a sparring match with him, he knew there was something going on. Time for a visit to Nabiki.

"1000 yen and I'll tell you who he is and where she meets him."

"You said 500 yen!"

"Well the price doubled. A girl's gotta make a living, you know."

Nabiki sat with her legs crossed on her bed while Ranma sat indian-style on the floor. He had managed to find 500 yen in his father's pack, strange considering the man didn't really work, but he didn't feel guilty since it was probably stolen to begin with.

"Then forget it. I'll get my information somewhere else." He began to get up, when Nabiki placed a foot against his shoulder.

"500 yen and I'll give you half the information." She held out her hand and Ranma quickly paid up.

Nabiki handed him a slip of paper with an address on it and said no more. He stuffed the address in his pocket and left her room, thankful she hadn't tried selling him anymore information.

* * *

The next day went pretty much the same for Ranma. He had expected Akane to be out running in the morning as usual. Instead she was locked inside her room behind closed doors.

Mid-morning, Akane came out of her room and went downstairs to get her shoes on. She looked unlike herself. Ranma was surprised, she actually looked pretty cute. She was wearing hip hugging jeans and a short white t-shirt that bared her midriff. He plopped down at the living room table and watched her change from her slippers to a pair of flip flops.

_Hmph. _ Ranma tried to ignore her but she was humming again.

"Hey Akane, you missed running this morning. You getting lazy or what?"

No reply. Akane merely waved goodbye to Kasumi and left the house.

Ranma was outraged. Not only did she miss running two days in a row, but she ignored all his usual comments. Standing up, he quickly made the decision to go to the address Nabiki had given him. He slipped his shoes on and tore down the street.

Sure enough, there was Akane, knocking on the door. She was greeted by a young man, a pretty good-looking young man, and was laughing at something he said.

"They're pretty familiar with each other," Ranma growled to himself. Across from the house was a small park. He decided to have a seat on a bench and keep watch.

A few hours later, and a nice nap, Ranma awoke to the sounds coming from the house. Akane was leaving and the young man was seeing her out. She looked sweaty and her hair was a mess. She was carrying a plate of some sort that looked wrapped in a handkerchief.

"Goodbye! See you tomorrow!" She waved and started off down the street. Ranma jumped from the bench and followed her, but stayed behind her. She stopped just a block away from the house before dumping the plate into a nearby garbage pail and continuing into the house.

_Trying to get rid of the evidence._ Ranma thought. He was about to hop down from the building he had been hiding on top of and see what she had thrown out but the elderly woman who owned the garbage pail had come out of her house to throw more garbage in it. He decided to do what he always did and seek refuge in the dojo to work out some frustration.

* * *

The next day started similar.

On this particular day though, Akane just couldn't decide what to wear to her cooking class. She knew she really shouldn't be excited, but she couldn't help it. Chef Mitsua was so nice to her, and so cute! He complemented her and helped her, unlike Ranma who usually insulted her and made her feel worse.

Casually walking his way down the hallway, Ranma stopped in front of Akane's open door to see her holding up outfit after outfit in front of her mirror.

"That one makes your hips look big."

Akane was too busy thinking about which one she liked better to hear Ranma's comment.

Ranma had ducked, anticipating something being thrown in his direction, however nothing came.

_Hm? She didn't even notice me. _He thought, ducking behind the door. _Probably trying to look good for her boyfriend. _

Akane had decided on a short layered white skirt and a black tanktop with a rose on it. Taking a last look in the mirror, she hurried down the hallway to get her shoes on, barely noticing Ranma the spy sitting in her doorway.

"Hey! What's she doing?"

He followed her down the stairs and watched her wave goodbye to her family and leave the house.

Ranma made the decision to continue to follow her again, and followed her down a few blocks back to the same address she had been the previous day. She knocked on the door and the same handsome young man answered the door and greeted Akane with a smile. If they were talking, Ranma couldn't hear, but just the look of it made his blood boil. He couldn't see or hear anything even as he approached the house As the door closed, Ranma spotted an open window and dashed towards it, peeking over the edge. He was looking in on what seemed to be a living area, very nicely arranged with a big table and fluffy floor cushions. He couldn't see anyone, but he could hear voices.

"So Akane, do you think you're ready?"

It was a male voice.

"I…I don't know if I'm ready for this. Can we just take it slow?"

Akane's voice, and she sounded nervous. Ranma's eyes narrowed.

"Akane, you're ready for this. Just trust me."

That was it. Ranma's fists had clenched and he could take no more. He flipped inside the house through the window and listened again to find out where the voices were coming from.

"Oh!"

It was Akane. And this time he ran to the direction of her voice.

"Now listen here pervert! Akane is _my_ fiancé and if you touch her…" he entered what he had expected to be the bedroom, but was the kitchen instead. The young man was sitting on a stool on the other side of what appeared to be a counter, watching Akane who had fallen victim to an exploding bag of flour. She had an apron on over her clothes and was standing at the counter with ingredients laid out in front of a big glass bowl.

"Ranma! What're you doing here?" She wiped her face and tried to dust herself off.

Ranma was standing there, his fists still clenched in anger, but was seemingly confused.

"I should ask you the same question! Who is this guy?" He looked at her then at the young man, who laughed softly.

"Ranma," he said, standing from the stool. He bowed his head and smiled when he came back up to face Ranma. "I have heard a lot about you."

Akane managed to dust off a little more flour, at least from her face and shoulders and stood next to them.

"Ranma, this is…" Akane started to speak, but Chef Mitsua finished.

"Mitsua Yumizaka. Akane's cooking teacher." He bowed his head respectfully and continued to smile.

Ranma's confused expression did not change. "Cooking…teacher?"

Mitsua nodded. "And she's doing very well, too. One of my best students." He turned to look at Akane and she smiled. "Why don't you have a seat? I will get us some tea while Akane finishes up her exam."

* * *

It wasn't until Ranma and Akane were walking home that evening when he actually spoke again. Akane was pleased with herself, she had passed the first step of the cooking classes and was holding her certificate with her name on it that clearly stated her achievement.

Ranma was carrying and eating the plate of the cookies she had made, dumbfounded about the whole situation.

"Ya coulda told me y'know," he said, stuffing his face with another cookie. He had to actually give it to her, they were good.

"You laugh at everything I do. Besides, it was funny to see you so jealous."

She reached over to him and grabbed the cookie he was just about to eat and took a bite out of it.

"Ha! I wasn't jealous, I thought he was trying to take advantage of you!"

He grabbed another cookie and stuffed the entire thing in his mouth.

"Then what was all that 'Akane is _my_ fiancé' business?" She stopped walking and turned to look at him. He noticed her and stopped too, his face turning serious.

"So you don't want to be my fiancé anymore?"

She blinked.  
"What?"

"Forget it. Do what you want. I don't care." He tossed her the plate and hopped up onto a nearby fence.

"Hey…hey wait a sec! I never said anything like that!" She hurled a cookie at his head and he turned back to look at her.

"Then what's with the lessons with chef googley eyes?" He folded his arms.

"He teaches the class! I didn't have a choice!"

"Right, and I'm sure the fact that he's good looking never crossed your mind, huh?"

Akane just stared at him. She had never seen him so jealous. Part of her was intrigued.

The other part just wanted to deck him.

"You are so stupid! Why would I care if he is cute?"

"So you admit it then! You think he's cute!"

Akane hurled the rest of the cookies at him, and he ducked each one.

"Baka! What difference does it make?!" She was getting frustrated and slammed the plate down against the pavement, cracked pieces of ceramic flying everywhere.

He hopped down from the fence and looked down at his feet. He fiddled around with his hands for a few seconds before answering. His voice was soft, and he sounded hurt.

"Do you like him?"

She folded her arms and thought for a moment. _Did she like him? _

"He is nice to me," she replied, "but he's my teacher…"

Akane wanted nothing more for him to take her in his strong arms, and kiss her as he had done a week before.

"…no, I don't like him." She finished, knowing in her heart what she wanted the most to happen was seemingly, not going to.

"If he lays a hand on you…" He started to say.  
"….I'll knock his teeth in." She finished for him, smiling at him. She turned to start walking again, he followed, and she grabbed his arm to hold onto. At least if he wouldn't hold her, there was nothing saying she couldn't hold him. Ranma tried not to look at her, but she seemed so content holding onto his arm. He could smell her hair, that familiar scent of flowers.

The whole matter was settled in his head. Nabiki was obviously just trying to make money, Akane did not have a boyfriend nor did she like him.

He lifted his arm and took her hand as they walked back home in silence. She let go once they reached the gates. It was the same spot they had shared the kiss.

She wondered if he remembered or if it had meant anything to him like it did to her.

Ranma was pondering why she had stopped and what he would do. He knew it was the spot he had kissed her that night and almost instantly the memory of her soft lips against his filled his head.

_Did she stop here for a reason? _He thought, and looked at her. She stood there, almost waiting, her hands behind her back.

Slowly he reached his arms out to her and gently placed them on her shoulders. Akane's heart began to race and thought, _this is it._

Ranma's own heart beated faster as he slowly, very slowly, closed his eyes and leaned closer to her. Akane did the same and just waited.

"Ow! Why you stupid…!"

Akane thought their lips were about to meet for one more time when Ranma's hands disappeared from her shoulders. She opened her eyes to see P-Chan biting Ranma's arm as he tried to contain the struggling pig.

She sighed.

"C'mon P-Chan. Lets go inside." She held out her arms and the little black pig squealed with delight as he let Ranma go and jumped in her arms. She stole a glance at Ranma whose eyes were narrowed and fists clenched. With a shrug and a small smile in his direction, she held P-Chan close and entered the house.

Ranma just sighed and knew, nothing could ever be that easy.


	3. The Long Summer

The Long Summer 

**A Ranma ½ Fanfic written by Sabrina Anne**

Disclaimer: The characters and stories of Ranma ½ are © Rumiko Takahashi, and are used here without permission or license. This work is for non-commercial use only and is produced for the sole enjoyment of fans, not to be distributed for sale.

Hi everyone! Thanks as always for reading. I know this story is shorter than my others, but I couldn't wait to get it out to you. Just a bit of a warning, there is a small hint of an adult theme in here, a sign of things to come in future chapters, so if you're not interested then please don't continue. Reviews welcome, thanks for your kind words!

It had been two months since he had seen her. Two ridiculously, excruciatingly painful long months.

He wondered, had she missed him? Would she look different? Would she be home? When he had left on the trip with his father, things between them hadn't exactly progressed from where they were, and he'd hoped that they hadn't gotten any worse.

Ranma dashed through the streets in his girl from, a giant panda creating havoc and screams behind him, as was the typical routine when coming home from a training trip. Gripping the straps of his pack with his thumbs he raced the panda back to the Tendou dojo. He wondered what he would say to her. Would she run out and greet him? Would she throw her arms around his neck and hug him as he dreamt she would?

And there it was, the Tendou home and dojo. He stood before the gates, dropping his pack. The sun had been up for a few hours, she would be back from her morning run already. The giant panda raced forward, crashing through the gates and thomping through the backyard of the house, letting out a loud growl to tell everyone of their homecoming. He heard a voice.

"Oh, Mr. Saotome! Welcome home!"

Kasumi.

Home. Yes, he was indeed home. And grateful for that too. It had been a grueling trip, and he was certainly tired.

He took one foot towards the gate before realizing he was still in his female form. Looking from left to right, he dropped his pack.

"Ok, gotta find some hot water."

Akane looked up from her book. Did she hear right? Mr. Saotome was home? That would mean…

"Ranma," she said to herself. Her eyes widened and a smile crept across her face at the thought. She looked down at her outfit and crinkled her nose. Quickly, she dashed to her closet, desperately searching for the perfect thing to wear, covering her floor with clothes in the process. Finally, she settled for an off-the shoulder light blue peasant top that bared her midriff and black leggings and took one last look in the mirror before running downstairs.

But when she came to the living room, it was only Kasumi, sewing one of Mr. Saotome's gis. She hurried out to the porch. Just her father and Mr. Saotome.

_Where is he? _She thought, running towards the dojo only to find it empty. Defeated, she slumped down to the floor. _Maybe he didn't want to come back_, she thought.

"Ahh…" Ranma said, drying his hair in a towel. A hot bath in the summer wasn't exactly refreshing, but he didn't want to get his clothes wet. He slid the bathroom door open and smiled, his heart racing a little. He went back to his bedroom and searched through his pack to find the little souvenir he had brought for her. Smiling to himself, he held it in his hands, knowing Akane would love it.

_Now to find Akane._

He walked down the hall to the living room only to find Kasumi.

The back porch was only his father and Mr. Tendou.

_Where is she? _He thought, the excitement of seeing her beginning to boil up inside.

"Were you hoping to find someone else?"

The voice came behind him and he whirled around to see Nabiki standing there, sucking on an ice pop. His disappointment must have been clearly showing on his face.

"What're you talking about? I'm not looking for anyone," he said, quickly hiding his hand with Akane's gift behind his back.

"It's too hot for this," she rolled her eyes at him. "She's in the dojo." And with a shake of her head, she walked away, muttering to herself.

Ranma lingered a moment, not wanting to seem too eager, and waited until Nabiki was back in the house before heading to the dojo. He looked down at the small gift in his hands that was plainly wrapped in rice paper. It wasn't much, but he had seen it in a shop in one of the many towns he and his father had passed while on their way home from the mountains and had thought of her. In fact, he had thought about her during most of the training trip. It was strange for him, when they had left he told himself he would be able to do so much more training if Akane weren't there and part of him had been relieved their fathers had not made her go with them.

"_This trip is not for women," _they had said. If Akane had been upset by this, she hadn't seemed to show it and didn't give any of her usual protests.

He wasn't sure whether it was part of some scrupulous plan to keep them apart so they would be so happy to see one another and forget about all past differences. Ranma kept reminding himself that he was smarter than both fathers put together and would never fall for such a plan.

And yet, she was all he could think about. And here he was aching to see her again. Each night he had dreamt of her. Dreamt that she would somehow make her way to their camp and smile at him each morning, looking at him with those eyes of hers….

The mere thought sent a shiver down his spine. It was as if his eyes hurt at the thought of seeing her smile at him again.

As he stood in front of the dojo door thinking about all the things he could possibly say to her, the door slid open.

There she was.

For a moment it looked as if she had been crying, and when she slid the door open to find someone there her expression turned to surprise. Now, knowing who it was, a smile slowly crept across her lips. It was that smile he was waiting for.

"Oh! Ranma," she said. "You've come back."

"Yeah um…well y'know, summer's over and all." He looked down at his feet, immediately forgetting all the things he wanted to say to her. He scratched the back of his head.

Akane looked down too, not knowing what to say either. He seemed different to her, yet still the same Ranma. Something about him had changed a little, she wasn't sure. He seemed a little taller, more muscular, he seemed…

Ranma's stomach gave a loud rumble and he looked up in embarrassment.

….he seemed hungry.

He smiled at her and shrugged. "I guess it's been a while since I've eaten."

They shared a laugh and broke the silence.

"Kasumi brought home some pork buns this morning," Akane said. "I could use one too."

Ranma nodded to her and stepped out of the way so she could exit the dojo. He kept his hand with her gift behind his back as he followed her into the house.

"I'll get them," she said. Ranma took a seat at the table and tucked Akane's present into his lap. She disappeared into the kitchen for a few minutes and came back out with a small tray, which she set down in the middle of the table and plopped down, on the floor across from him. He grabbed a bun and began stuffing his face.

Akane grumbled. "You are _such_ a pig."

"Eh? Oh…" he stopped his hands from grabbing another bun too quickly and slowed down. He waited for Akane to pick one up before taking another one.

_I missed you, Akane. _

_You look…..cute.. _

_I'm glad I'm here with you. _

Ranma shook his head, once again fighting his inner voice and tried to find some words to say that wouldn't make him sound like a total idiot.

Akane thought about what she would say too.

_It was quiet without you. _

_I'm glad you're home._

And so they sat in silence, as usual, until of course, someone around the Tendou home would break that silence for them.

While sitting there, looking down at the floor and discussing with their inner voices, neither had noticed Nabiki sneak up between them.

"Oh Ranma, give your fiancé a little kissy-kiss because you missed her!" She pouted her lips at them and made kissing noises before sitting back to watch the show.

"Nabiki! Don't be crazy! We weren't going to kiss!" Akane shouted, clenching her fists.

"Yeah! Why would I kiss a macho chick like her?" Ranma folded his arms just as he was hit in the head with the empty tray Akane had brought the pork buns out on.

"I don't know, Ranma! Why _would _ you kiss a macho chick like me!" She screamed at him before stomping off to her bedroom.

"RAAAAANMAAAA!"

Soun's battle aura lunged into the dining room from the back porch.

"Yeee!" Ranma scrambled backward.

"Aplogize to my daughter!" The battle aura screamed.

Nabiki sat at the table, hiding a smile behind the last pork bun. _I should charge money to see this,_ she thought. _And should have taken a bet at how long it would take for him to get hit with something._

Akane slammed her door shut and slumped down on her bed.

"Jerk!" She shouted out loud, looking at her mirror across from her. It had been going so well, but someone in her family always has to ruin it. Then again, Ranma always did a perfect job of ruining things himself.

_Did their kiss two months ago mean nothing? Did he forget?_ She was so sure things would have changed between them. Things would have been more out in the open. It seemed that every time they made progress, something or someone would get in the way. They had almost shared another kiss before he left. _Almost_. With a heavy sigh, the memory of that morning rushed back into her mind like a tidal wave.

"C'mon boy, it's time to go!"

Genma was already through the gates when he turned around to see his son lingering in the yard. His pack was on the floor and he was looking out onto the porch. Kasumi was waving with a smile, and Nabiki was there too leaning against the door.

Akane had been in her room, wondering what to say to him. She knew this wasn't one of those dangerous trips Ranma had been accustomed to taking. There was nobody to save, and no direct threat to anyone….so why had she been so worried?

Knowing he would be leaving for the summer, she had spent days going through waves of different emotions. One day she was happy, thinking of how much she could accomplish if he wasn't around. She could spend time with her friends, maybe take up a hobby, and get in more time to train. Then before she knew it, she would be sad, doing anything within her power to stop the tears from welling in her eyes. There were more sad days than she could count, and the few days immediately prior to his leaving she had locked herself in her room to keep anyone from knowing her pain.

Then came the morning of his departure and she was still locked in her room. She thought that if she didn't come out, the pain might go away and everything would be fine. But as she looked out her window to see him standing in the yard, her heart began to break. He was taking one last look at the porch before picking up his pack and turning around.

_Was he waiting for her?_

Without any further hesitation, she left her room and ran down the stairs down to the porch. On her way outside, Kasumi and Nabiki were entering the house, watching the whirlwind of their little sister as she flew by them.

Ranma was just past the gates when she caught up with him.

"Ranma…." She breathed, almost out of breath.

His heart had skipped a beat when he heard the footsteps and the sound of her voice. Quickly, he turned around. She was breathing hard and leaning against the wall to hold herself up. Her cheeks and eyes were swollen. She had indeed, been crying.

"Akane…" He looked down at her, not knowing what to say. Of course, he wanted nothing more than to pull her to him and share a kiss like the one they had shared in the rain. He had remembered how her lips felt against his, how her body felt against his, her hand clutching his shirt as if she thought he'd run away.

His face blushed at the thought and he looked down at his feet.

"Don't get yourself hurt, okay?" she said, choking back the next round of tears and putting on a fake smile, hoping he wouldn't see through the happy façade.

_Take me with you,_ her mind was saying. She prayed he would grab her with those strong arms of his and hold her, maybe even kiss her.

Ranma nodded, returning her smile. It looked as though he was leaning closer to her and Akane's heart began to beat faster.

_He's going to kiss me! _ She closed her eyes and waited, grateful that someone had been listening to her prayers.

"I said NOW!"

SPLASH

Akane felt her feet get splashed with water and she opened her eyes to see a drenched Ranma-chan looking sadly at her. He managed to wave at her before his father slung him over his shoulder and ran down the street.

With another heavy sigh, she stood and walked to her window. By now, her father would have screamed at him and forced him to apologize. She waited.

Ranma went to his usual spot on the roof and slid forward, hanging upside down in front of Akane's window. He hadn't expected her to meet him face to face.

"Um….Akane," he blinked, his face blushing.

"Get your apology over with Ranma, then get the heck out of my window." She turned her back to him and folded her arms, waiting.

"Huh-hey!" He swung forward and flipped into her bedroom. "Look, Akane…"

She spun around and glared angrily at him. "Look Akane, _what?_ You always say stupid things whenever anyone's around! You're always poking fun at me! You leave for two months and all you can say to me are insults? I hate you!"

Sheepishly, Ranma looked down at his feet. Akane refolded her arms and waited once more. She wasn't sure if he would bolt out of her bedroom or if he would say anything at all.

This certainly wasn't how either of them wanted things to go after the long summer, but it was always how things ended up being. Just when they thought they had taken a major step, something always kept them right where they were.

"I'm…I'm sorry," he stammered. From his pocket, he found the small package so plainly wrapped and gently placed it on her desk before climbing out the window and flipping back onto the roof.

Akane whirled around and watched his feet as he leaped back up to the roof. It was then that she noticed the small box on her desk. Slowly walking towards it, she looked at the package and looked back at the window. Part of her hadn't expected an apology, and certainly none of her expected him to give her something.

Confused, she opened the wrapping and took the top off the small box to find a blue pendant necklace with a black chord. It had symbols on them that she wasn't able to understand, which could have been Chinese, but Ranma had given it to her and it was perfect. Since it happened to match her shirt, she stepped over to her mirror and tied it around her neck. She smiled, not only at how pretty it was, but that Ranma had given it to her. In all this time, Ranma had never really given her something other than during the holidays.

With a small sigh, she made the decision to go find him and try this again.

"_I hate you!" _

Akane's voice replayed in his head over and over, his heart breaking each time. As he sat on his usual spot on the roof, watching the sunset, he couldn't help but stare out over the horizon of Tokyo.

_Did she really hate me? _

He couldn't get the sound of her screaming it out of his head. Here he had actually _missed_ her and she was screaming that she hated him. He thought back to the morning of his departure and wondered if she would have still screamed it had he been able to kiss her before…. Before his father splashed him and turned him into a girl. He remembered how sad she looked when she ran to meet him at the gate. Her cheeks were red and puffy and she needed to lean against the gate to hold herself up. He hadn't wanted to leave her and if she'd asked to go with him he would have caved at that moment.

"This sulking thing is getting a bit old, don't you think?"

It was Akane. He turned to look up at her just as she was carefully sitting down next to him. She had the necklace on, the black chord wrapped around her neck as the blue pendant dangled over her flesh.

It looked beautiful on her.

"I ain't sulking." He turned back to the sunset, resting his arms on his knees.

"So….what do you call it then?" Akane wasn't really sure what to say. She wanted to thank him for the gift and definitely didn't want to apologize for what she said, even though she didn't really hate him. But he knew that, right?

He grumbled a bit to himself, unable to come up with another word for it. After all, he _was_ sulking.

"Do you really hate me, Akane?" He had turned to look up at her again and took her by surprise, almost as if he had been reading her thoughts. He looked like a lost puppy, so vulnerable and so hurt. What she really wanted to do was reach across the roof and hug him. Tell him exactly how empty the house had been without him and how quiet things were without him to make it all chaotic. That every morning she'd wake up and wish he was there, even if he was going to insult her, just his presence would have made her feel less abandoned.

But instead, she blinked at him and looked down. "What? No, I….don't….I didn't mean to say that. I was mad at you."

_Tell her that you missed her._ _Hug her, hold her. _

Of course, none of the inner dialogue found its way out. He simply sat there pressing his fingers together.

"So…..what do the symbols mean?" She asked, looking down at the pendant.

His face blushed a little and Akane was confused. She didn't think her question warranted such a response, then again she didn't know what the symbols meant.

"Village symbols," he started to say. "They um…. It means strength and courage." He glanced at her out of his eyes then looked back out over Tokyo.

She found herself blushing this time, but the smile was there. "You….you think I'm strong? And courageous?"

"Well you know….you are pretty mach…." He looked at her, remembering what she had told him about insulting her and decided to rethink his words. "You're the strongest, most courageous girl I know, Akane."

Akane's heart skipped a beat. _Did he really just say that or had she imagined it? _ After all they had been through, she wasn't sure she was the one who deserved to wear such a pendant.

"Thanks," she said, sounding as if tears were welling in her eyes. He turned to look at her and had never seen her look so attractive. She seemed proud, looking down at the pendant. His words were the truth, no matter how much danger the two would find themselves in, she always risked her life to save his and vice versa. Her large brown eyes stared lovingly down at the necklace dangling just above her breasts.

He had been in a village shop looking for something to eat when he spotted a small shop with many different antique-looking items. The shopkeeper, an old man with eyes that seemed to smile had welcomed him and told him that each item had a story. The glare from the sun hitting the shiny blue necklace had caught his eye and he inquired the shopkeeper about its story.

"A brave young warrior received it as a gift from his only love before leaving to fight in a war. When he came back many years later, he found his love had passed away from heartbreak."

Ranma wasn't sure if he believed the story, but he knew of no one better to wear such a pendant than Akane.

"I'm not saying that I missed you or nothin'…." He paused and looked back out at the horizon. "… but it was a pretty long two months." He folded his arms and waited for her response.

_Pathetic_.

It was a good thing Akane was fluent in Ranma-speak and had translated perfectly. It was moments like this that made her forget just how mad he made her sometimes. She smiled as she did what she wanted to do all along and reached across the space between them to wrap her arms around his waist. His scent was a mixture of sweat and soap, and she liked it.

"Eh…?!" He blinked down at her and blushed, but still put his arms around her in return. Her hair smelled like vanilla.

"Ranma," she said, her face almost buried in his chest.

"Ah….Akane?"

"I missed you too."

_She missed me too…_

Akane could hear his heart thumping and felt her own begin to race. One of them would have to make a move before someone in her family came to ruin another perfectly good moment. She could feel his hands on her back. They were shaking, and his breathing became faster.

_You've done it before,_ he thought to himself. _You can do it again…_

Nodding to himself, he decided to go for it. He closed his eyes and leaned down to her, not realizing his speed.

"Uhn!"

Akane pulled back from him, holding her nose. He had been leaning down to her and bonked her in the nose.

He immediately recoiled and let her go, his face more crimson than ever before.

She hadn't realized what he'd been doing until she saw how red he'd become. Stifling a giggle, she let go of her nose and covered her mouth so he wouldn't see her smile.

Too late.

Ranma turned to see her giggling and narrowed his eyes in anger.

"Keep laughing, tomboy!" He shouted at her, turning his back to her and folding his arms. _How could she be laughing at him like this? Did she know how much it took for him to make a move?_

"Oh Ranma," she shook her head. Knowing that he had been about to kiss her, she moved with newfound confidence and placed an arm on his shoulder. When he didn't budge, she leaned forward and twisted around him, losing her balance for a brief moment before ending up in his lap. Without missing a beat, she raised a hand to his cheek and tilted his head to her. It was not long before their lips met. Ranma's arms found their way around her once more as he held her, his heart once again feeling as if it would beat out of his chest. Akane closed her eyes and felt her mind drifting away. If someone came up to the roof to find them, it wouldn't matter. All that mattered was that he was home….he was holding her…he was kissing her. She lost herself completely in his arms.

Ranma had not only been angry that she was laughing at him, but he was mortified. All that had been forgotten the moment she fell into his lap and kissed him. At once, he felt her hand on his cheek and before he knew it, felt her lips against his. He slid his arms around her, holding her in a close embrace and clutching her as if she would evaporate into thin air. Akane slowly parted her lips and Ranma was quick to deepen the kiss. He could feel her chest pressing against his and immediately his body began to react. Blood rushed through his veins, to one particular body part and he knew he'd have to stop before Akane could notice.

"Dinner's ready!"

Ranma had never been so relieved in his life to hear Kasumi call the family inside. If Akane had noticed his reaction to her, he wasn't sure how she'd respond. Knowing her tendencies, she'd probably clobber him with any nearby object and in this particular sensitive state he didn't want to continue to find out. Quickly, their kiss came to an end and he gently lifted her out of his lap and onto the roof tiles. He gave a small sigh of relief that she hadn't mentioned feeling anything against her hips.

Still in a daze, Akane looked at him, a small smile still on her lips. She slid forward on the roof and swung her legs over the side, looking over her shoulder before making the leap off the roof.

"Are you coming?" She asked.

He didn't move, not wanting to trigger the growing bulge in his pants any further.

"Y….yup," he croaked. "M…meet you do…down there," he forced a smile as she nodded and slid off the roof. He gave another sigh and continued to wait.

Akane climbed in through her window and took a look at herself in the mirror. Her face was flush and she blushed, knowing exactly how Ranma had reacted to their kiss. Secrectly she wondered what would have happened had Kasumi not called them for dinner and quickly shook away the thought, knowing how improper the idea was.

Biting her lower lip in attempt to hide away her smile, she left her room and slowly walked downstairs to greet her family for dinner. Ranma had entered the living room a few minutes later, taking his usual place next to her and looking as if he'd had the wind knocked out of him. The rest of the family, barely noticing how silent the two were, continued to eat dinner with their usual chatter.

Ranma and Akane snuck glances at one another, but continued to remain silent.

_I guess things are definitely going to change,_ Akane thought to herself, holding her bowl of rice up to her face to hide the smile.


	4. Akane Has A Birthday

**A Ranma ½ Fanfic written by Sabrina Anne**

Disclaimer: The characters and stories of Ranma ½ are © Rumiko Takahashi, and are used here without permission or license. This work is for non-commercial use only and is produced for the sole enjoyment of fans, not to be distributed for sale.

Hi everyone! Thanks again for reading and your wonderful reviews for chapter 3. Thank you so much for your patience, it has been one truly crazy summer. Hope you enjoy this one!

* * *

The beginning of school had come and gone and as usual after taking a big step, nothing between Ranma and Akane had changed. Each morning following Ranma's homecoming, Akane had awakened to a lingering tingling feeling in her toes and would often find herself wondering when they would share another passionate kiss. 

This morning began as just another typical morning for Akane. She woke up with a smile only to realize she had been dreaming, and stretched before swinging her legs over the side of her bed. As she stood up, she turned to look at her calendar hanging over on the wall by her closet and her mood suddenly changed. It was her birthday. Ordinarily, one would be happy on the day of their birth, but for the past year, any special occasion seemed to warrant a wedding that she was not particularly ready for. Ever since the Saotomes entered their household, the smallest excuses were given to push her and Ranma into getting married. She wondered what the plan would be this year. Sleeping potions? A contest of some sort, knowing how competitive she could get? A challenge, knowing how Ranma could never turn one down? To make matters worse, her father had rented out the dojo for the day to a senior center that needed space to get together for a social event. This kept Kasumi pretty busy, as she offered to do most of the catering. Nabiki was pretty busy as well, offering to run some type of raffle to win prizes. She had been locked up in her room for days scheming up some plans on how to swindle the old people out of some more money. If her sisters were busy, she knew there would be a small chance anyone would actually remember her birthday. Her father, as much as he loved and protected his daughters, had a hard time remembering small details, such as birthdays.

With a grumble, she walked over to her closet and hoped at least one of her friends from school would remember. It made her slightly happy that at least this year their school had gotten a bit more modern as far as their uniforms were concerned. She laid out her white buttoned shirt and plaid skirt on her bed and dug out her morning jogging clothes from her dresser drawer. She pulled a sports bra over her head, slipped into her shorts and dashed down the stairs to begin her morning routine.

* * *

Ranma woke up in a cold sweat. For the third night in a row, he had the same dream: 

Akane had cooked a special dinner for him.

With a shiver, he stood and stretched before rolling up his futon. He glanced over at his father, sleeping lazily outstretched across the floor in panda form. It never ceased to amaze him how much the lazy oaf enjoyed sleeping in his cursed state. Shaking his head, he sleepily walked over to the window and looked outside at the backyard of the Tendou home. Akane was just coming in from her morning jog. She looked determined and out of breath, but more attractive than anything. Her abdomen was completely out in the open for all to see and the fruits of her workouts every day were really starting to pay off. He watched her stretch her legs before running onto the porch and back in the house. From inside his room, he could hear her footsteps running down the hall to the bathroom and decided he should get ready for school too.

When they both sat down for breakfast, it was silence as usual. Ranma was there eating first. He looked up at her as she came into the living room, wearing her pendant Ranma had brought for her from his training trip. He blushed a little, the memory of the day he gave it to her fresh on his mind, and looked back down to his bowl of rice. Akane had been hoping someone would say something to her, perhaps noticing that she looked a little older? She picked up the bowl that was waiting for her and looked around at the faces of her family. They were all busy talking about what was going on in their lives. Not even a tanjoubi omedetou. Sighing to herself, she picked up her chopsticks and dug them into her bowl of rice. When everyone had finished, she took one more look around the table. Kasumi was busying herself in the kitchen again, beginning to set out some ingredients for the dishes she planned to make for the senior social event later that afternoon and Nabiki was already in the hallway getting ready to leave.

Sighing once more, she stood, grabbed her schoolbag from the hallway and slipped on her shoes. It's not that she was looking forward to some "genious" plan of her father and Mr. Saotome's, but it would have at least reassured her that someone cared. Ranma followed her on their normal route to school, but kept quiet. She stole a few glances at him and it looked as if he kept opening his mouth to say something, but he remained quiet.

She grumbled to herself, hoping it was low enough for him not to hear. _This was going to be a bad day_.

* * *

During lunch, Akane sat outside with her friends. They each presented her with small tokens and birthday wishes and she was grateful for having such wonderful friends that cared. Ranma sat over with some guys who were watching a group of girls sitting and talking at a nearby picnic table. 

"That one's really cute, I hear she dumped her boyfriend last week."

"Her friend's cuter. You can see her bra through her shirt! Ranma, which one would you rather date?"

Ranma wasn't paying. He was still trying to think of something to say to Akane. She had seemed so different at breakfast this morning. Usually, she would chat with one of her sisters, or small talk with her father about school or the dojo, but today she was rather quiet. Too quiet to be normal. Something was bothering her.

_Did I say something to her?_ Immediately he assumed it was his fault, but if it had indeed been his doing, he would have been sent to see Dr. Tofu by now. He scanned the courtyard to see where she was and noticed her with some friends. She was laughing and smiling with them, nothing out of the ordinary.

"Hm." He said to himself.

"So which one is it, the brunette or the redhead?"

His friends stared at him, one of them waving a hand in front of his face.

"Hey man, what the hell are you staring at?"

"I already said she was cute!" Ranma shouted, turning to look at the guys. They blinked in confusion before realizing what and whom he had been looking at.

"Ranma thinks Akane is cute!" The taller of the two, Keitome began shouting to another group of boys. The others began taunting him and immediately he realized what he had said. Ranma grumbled to himself.

"I was talking about the redhead! The redhead!" He shouted back at them. By then, most of the schoolyard had turned to look at them, including Akane and her friends.

"You were talking about Akane!" Keitome shouted at him.

"That uncute stack of bricks? Yeah right!"

A sudden flash of battle aura was caught out of the corner of Ranma's eyes.

_Uh oh_.

He whirled around to see her glaring at him, the bright red of her aura soaring up into the air around her.

"Uh...hey, A...Akane..." he began to say, waiting for her response.

On a normal day, Akane would have sent him flying over the rooftops. She would have punched the daylights out of a training dummy, and in about an hour it would have all been forgotten.

Today was different.

She did nothing, said nothing. She merely walked away quietly.

"Real sensitive, Ranma." Yumei, Akane's best girlfriend folded her arms and made a face at him.

"What'd I do?!"

Akane's friends had started to form a circle around him, all shaking their heads in his direction.

"Would someone just speak up?!" He turned back to Yumei who had raised an eyebrow at him.

"You mean you honestly don't know?" She rolled her eyes and looked past him to her friends. "Idiot, it's Akane's birthday today."

Ranma almost fell backward at her response. He lost his footing, and slumped down to the soft grass.

_Damn it,_ he thought. _Why do I always muck things up? _

Yumei shooed the crowd away before plopping down on the grass next to him. She was sweet, but her tone was firm.

"A girl's birthday is important to her, Ranma. Even more so if there's someone special in her life."

He blushed. "But I'm not… I didn't…we're not…"

She rolled her eyes again and held up her hand. "Save it. Nobody believes that crap anyway. Now lets talk about what you're going to do for Akane."

He sighed and thought hard about what he could do. He didn't have a ton of money to buy her something, and besides, anything he did at this point would just look like he was trying to apologize for what he'd said earlier. He knew Yumei was right. After all they'd been through, Akane deserved something great for her birthday. Slowly, a grin crept across his lips and he held out his hand to Yumei.

* * *

"Let me borrow your cell phone." 

Akane walked home alone. She hadn't planned on waiting for Ranma, but Yumei assured her she had given him hell for the comment he'd made, so she changed her mind and waited for him after class. She had almost forgiven him…had he shown up. Frustrated, embarrassed, and finding herself angrier than before, Akane began the walk home.

"Hey Akane!"

Almost instantly, his voice gave her goose bumps, and for a brief second she completely forgot she was mad at him.

Unfortunately, that brief second was gone and she whirled around to glare at him. He was at his usual position on the fence above the sidewalk looking down at her with a mischievous smile.

"What, you want to say something else insulting to me?" She hurled her book bag at him and watched him catch it with lightning reflexes.

"Ah c'mon, you didn't take me seriously again, did you?" He hopped down from the fence and slowly approached her, but she took a step backwards.

"I don't care anymore. I'm going home." With a flip of her hair, she turned around quickly and began walking down the sidewalk again, but not before giving him one last glare. "_Don't_ follow me."

Ranma's eyes widened and he reached out for her arm. "Wait…" Knowing that she couldn't go home just yet, he had to come up with a plan to stall her. Quickly, he grabbed her hand and began running down the street towards the train station. "C'mon, we're not going home yet."

Before she could utter a "Let go of me you jerk!" she was whisked down the streets of Nerima.

When they got to the train station, Akane had to lean against a ticket machine to catch her breath. _Where the hell was he planning to take her?_

Ranma dug into his pockets for some money to buy them tickets. He had an idea and it was only a few stops away.

* * *

"Ok just a few more steps," Ranma said, his hands were covering her eyes and unfortunately her nose as she found it hard to breathe. Although the train ride wasn't very long, it had been a grueling few minutes. He made her keep her eyes closed the entire time, which was embarrassing especially when the train came to a quick stop and she didn't know where to put her hands to balance herself. 

"This is really getting annoying," she said, slapping at his hands. They were so strong, and his body was just about pressed against her back as he shuffled them to their destination. "If we're so close, why can't I just look?"

"Just keep 'em closed." He said, shuffling her through what seemed to be a gate. She could hear the hustling and bustling of people; a group of schoolgirls making their way somewhere, giggling about something, a woman on her cell phone. Finally, she felt him come to a stop and let go of her, his warmth from behind her disappearing.

"Open," he said. He stood next to her, watching her from the corner of his eyes as she blinked, rubbing her eyes a bit to get used to the sunlight.

"Where….where are we?" She looked around her as her eyes drank in the sight. The gardens were beautiful.

But the most prominent sight to see was the aisle straight ahead of them of sakura trees. What seemed to be hundreds of trees lined both sides of a wide cement sidewalk.

"Koishikawa Botanical Gardens," he replied, his eyes never moving from the sight in front of them. People were spread out on blankets on the soft grass underneath the trees, snuggling with their significant other, eating boxed lunches, or reading quietly to themselves. It looked peaceful, relaxing, and breathtaking.

Ranma tore his eyes away from the trees and looked at her. Her mouth was open in amazement, her large brown eyes continuing to look across the panorama of trees.

"C'mon," he said, grabbing her hand and pulling her down the aisle. Halfway down, he started into a sprint and pulled her further into the gardens. They stopped at a small koi pond and Ranma bought a small bag of food for them to throw into the pond.

It was all so beautiful, but Akane couldn't help but wonder…._what was he up to? _

* * *

Meanwhile, back at the Tendou home, plans had slightly changed. After receiving Ranma's phone call, Kasumi finished what she had to do for the senior event and began working on Akane's surprise party. Nabiki, along with Yumei and several of Akane's other friends, were in charge of decorating the living room and setting up the karaoke machine. Kasumi came into the living room with a tray filled with an assortment of rice cakes. 

"Wow, it looks great in here," she said as she gave the room a look around. Paper streamers dangled from the ceiling and the sliding door and Yumei was busying herself by putting up paper lanterns.

"I hope Akane likes it after the day she's had," Yumei said as she placed a lantern in the middle of the eating table.

"Leave it to Ranma to insult her on her own birthday," Nabiki rolled her eyes and continued to tape paper streamers to the walls.

* * *

It was getting late, and Akane was growing more and more annoyed. It was obvious Ranma was trying too hard to be nice to her, but it only continued to make her blood boil. She knew deep down she should be happy that he had taken her here and was trying to so hard to be nice, but everything he did after getting to the gardens just made the day worse. 

Attempting to show off his balancing skills, Ranma had jumped across the koi pond and landed on the rocks that seemed to form a circlular path to the middle of the pond. Ordinarily Ranma's reflexes would have kicked into high gear, however, he lost his balance on a rock that had just been splashed by a large orange koi and fell into the pond, splashing Akane in the process. Akane had screamed at him, after they both were yelled at by one of the garden guards for playing in the pond. Ranma, had of course challenged the guard, who in return threatened to throw them out of the gardens. Annoyed and sopping wet, Akane had dragged him, now a her, from shop to shop to find hot water, but no one would let either one of them in their shop so as not to make a mess on the clean floors. To make matters worse, it was getting late, which meant it was dinner time and it was getting cold out. Any money Ranma had left had fallen in the pond when he slipped, and neither wanted to go anywhere near the pond for fear of the guard thinking they were playing again. Finally, they had found a public bathroom where Ranma could change.

"It's not like I fell in on purpose, y'know," Ranma sat cross-legged on the ledge of a small brick wall in front of the bathrooms with his arms folded. Akane, having just dumped a large cup of hot water over him, was screaming at him yet again for being such a jerk and wanting to show off. She was shivering and had her arms folded in anger.

"Just don't do anything else stupid, will you? I'm tired of watching your back today."

Ranma pulled off his shirt and wrung it out, his white tank top still soaking wet, but this time with luke-warm water. He saw her shivering and wished he had something dry to give her.

That wasn't the only thing he wished. The day didn't really go as he had planned, and he could see a direct correlation to how the day progressed and how angry Akane was getting.

"I'm cold," she said finally after a few minutes of silence.

"You want to head home?" He looked up at a big clock on the wall of the bathroom building. The family should be ready with party preparations by now.

She nodded and began walking away quickly, her arms wrapped around herself to keep her warm. He hopped off the ledge and followed her.

It wasn't until they reached the train station when the realization hit both of them.

"You idiot! You stupid stupid baka! Now how the hell are we going to get home?!" She punched him in the chest, harder than she normally hit him and continued to scream. Ranma stumbled backward, a hand immediately began rubbing the spot she hit him.

"This is the worst day of my life!"

Ranma emptied every pocket he had, desperately searching for coins but to no avail. They had no money for train tickets to get home.

"Look, if we just get on the train and explain…" He started to say, but her eyes were already narrowed with anger, her cheeks swelling from the apparent coming of tears.

"And explain what exactly? That you're a giant jerk and you don't care about anyone but yourself? I'm wet, I'm freezing, and I'm starving. I wouldn't be any of these things if it weren't for you!"

Ranma stared at her, speechless. There wasn't anything he could say to make the situation any better.

"I'm going home, and if I don't see you for the rest of the day…." She had turned around to start walking again, but whirled around to glare at him one last time. "…well then at least one good thing will have happened on my birthday."

And with that, she turned back around, breaking into a sprint down the train station. Where she was going to go, she didn't know. Whether she had meant what she said, she didn't know that either, just that she didn't want to look at him anymore. After all they had been through, Akane had expected Ranma to care a little more about her birthday this year. Instead, he was his usual self: a macho, showoff, and insensitive, selfish jerk.

She ran until she could run no more, leaning against a building as she gathered her breath. She slumped down to the cement sidewalk and sighed. The tears had stopped streaming down her cheeks the second she left the station. Part of her felt really bad for screaming at Ranma the way she had, but running had felt so good and had lifted her spirits just enough to stop the tears. As she stood up, she realized how far she had gotten and recognized her surroundings. Just another mile and she'd be back in Nerima! With a stretch of her legs and a quick crack of her neck, she prepared for another run and made her way down the street. Stopping at the gate only to catch her breath, she proceeded to slide the door open and find her family and friends gathered around a decorated living room.

"SURPRISE!" They all shouted at her. Their smiling faces, the decorations, the food, everything about that moment made her eyes swell with tears again and in her mind, she recanted all the lousy things she had said to herself about her birthday.

"Thank you…." She said, kicking her shoes off and stepping into the living room. "Thank you everyone!"

She blinked as she saw her friends from school and her sisters, who had seemed so busy this morning, and she knew she couldn't hold back the tears anymore. Her father, along with Mr. Saotome, was already drinking on the other side of the room while playing with the karaoke machine. Nabiki came up to her, putting a cardboard hat on her head.

"As much as I'd love to take the credit for this one," she said with her usual air of arrogance, "…you can thank Ranma."

Akane stared at her sister as if she had seen a ghost. Her heart sank and she remembered the awful things she had said to him, screamed at him, and all the thoughts that overpowered her mind as she turned and ran from him. How could it be that the one person who made her birthday so unbearable was also the one who made it so perfect?

* * *

Ranma had made his way home the usual way when he didn't have any money: he stowed away on the roof of the train. He kept an eye out for Akane, peeking every one and a while in and out of the train's car windows, but didn't see her anywhere. He was worried about her, worried that something would have happened to her, and knowing how reckless she can be when she was upset made him feel even worse. When he left the train station, his mind wandered back to the fight they had before she ran off. They always said things they didn't mean, always told each other how stupid they were an that they hated one another, but this time her eyes glowed with such a fierce intensity, he couldn't help but believe it. As he approached the Tendou gates, he hesitated. From outside, he could hear the sound of the party. Laughter, and music, someone begging another person not to sing anymore. As he stood there, staring at the house, more and more he realized how much his eyes were stinging with the pain of wanting to cry. He truly had wanted the day to go perfectly. It was his original plan to distract Akane just enough so that her family could prepare the party, but instead of making her happy he had caused a fight, as he always managed to do. 

Not feeling much like a party, he sighed and climbed up to the roof of the dojo where he could sit and be alone.

The night sky was shining with stars, and he looked up, choosing one to focus on. He shut his eyes tight, a single tear escaping down his cheek as he thought long and hard about what he wanted to wish for. Whether he was starting to feel better or wishing on a star had regained his confidence, he wiped his cheek and slid down to the edge of the roof where he could still hear the party. Flipping off the edge, he slowly slid the living room door open and was welcomed with open arms from Akane's friends and family. Akane glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes, but didn't want to make much more of it. She quickly turned back to Yumei, who was singing another song on the karaoke machine.

* * *

As Akane was getting ready for bed, she thought about how day really hadn't turned out as bad as she originally though tit had. Not that she enjoyed following Ranma around the gardens and getting in trouble almost everywhere they went, but she had to admit it was a sweet gesture to bring her there in the first place. 

And then there was the party.

Had Yumei not confirmed Nabiki's statement, she would never have believed it. Ranma? _Her_ Ranma had planned all this? She knew she had to apologize for what she said, but she was tired of the same old routine they had been through time after time: Ranma would do something stupid, she would get mad at him, then go apologize and fix everything.

"Forget it," she said aloud to herself. She walked to her window and looked out to the backyard. Everything always looked so pretty surrounded by moonlight. She stood gazing out the window until a knock on her door startled her.

"Come in," she said, turning around to see who it was, as if she had to really think about it. It was late enough that everyone in the house would have already been asleep.

Ranma slowly opened the door and peeked his head inside before stepping all the way in and shutting the door behind him.

"I know what you are going to say, but just hear me out, okay?" He was fidgeting with his fingers and looking down at his feet.

Seeing no indication that she was going to protest, Ranma continued.

"I know you had a lousy birthday, and I was really stupid today. But…" He paused, looking up from his feet to catch her gaze. "….that just seems to be how I am around you."

She raised an eyebrow. "I make you act stupid?"

"Yeah. Well, you know, if it weren't for you I wouldn't do half the stupid things I do!"

Akane was baffled. Did he really just blame _her_ for all the dumb things he does?

"What the hell kind of apology is that?" She folded her arms and continued to keep her eyebrows raised. "I mean really, you come in here after how you acted today and blame _me_ for how stupid you are all the time?"

He stepped closer to her. "No, see that's just it!" Sitting down on her bed, he put his head in his hands and continued. "I'm not that stupid when you're not around!"

"What?"

He looked up at her, seemingly frustrated, internally searching for what to say.

"I think I've had my fill of you for one day," she said, shaking her head at him. "I don't understand what you're saying and I'm too tired to make sense of your nonsense."

"Akane – wait. I care about you… a lot. I just get so mixed up sometimes, and…." He grabbed her shoulders, shaking her slightly, forcing her to look at him. His heart was pounding so fast, she could feel it beating through his fingers on her shoulders.

His mind raced as his eyes closed quickly, but not before he leaned in to press his lips against hers. His kiss felt hungry, desperate. She found herself surrendering, happy he was kissing her again, and slowly leaned backward until her back was touching her bed. Ranma's body followed her, but not once did he break the kiss. Ever since the last time their lips touched, he had longed for it to happen again, and didn't want it to stop. He could feel her hands clutching his back, pulling him closer, her breasts pressing hard against him. He slid his hands to her waist and he found bare skin. His brain was screaming at him to go further, to explore the rest of what laid beneath her pajama top, but his nerves won and his hands stayed where they were.

A chill ran up Akane's spine the moment his warm, strong hands made contact with her bare skin. Something inside her urged her to grab his hands and slide them everywhere she wanted to be touched, but she knew she was getting caught up in the moment. Quickly, she broke the kiss and looked up at him. He had moved his hands to each side of her and leaned up, looking down at her. His breathing was heavy, his cheeks were flushed, and black strands fell down over his eyes.

She smiled up at him and he returned the smile before collapsing next to her, out of breath.

"Wow," he said finally. "I've been wanting to do that…all day."

She let out a laugh and rolled over to look at him. "I couldn't agree more."

He pulled a blanket over her and just looked at her. Her jet black hair was messy, but words could not express how unbelievably adorable she looked. He sat up as if to leave, but she grabbed his arm and offered him some blanket.

"Stay," she whispered. He nodded to her, laying back down on her bed and kept his distance but still faced her.

_Anything for you…._ His heart told him, beginning to beat faster again.

She closed her eyes and let out a sigh.

Ranma continued to watch her. He wasn't sure if this was a dream, if he had fallen asleep back in his room or if this was actually real. She was peaceful while she slept and he wished he could sleep with her every night. There was also a small part of him that wanted more, but he was willing to wait for that.

With heavy eyelids, he draped an arm around her, pulling her close.

"Happy Birthday," he whispered.

Happy Birthday.


End file.
